The Latest: Demonstrators gather for Trump’s San Diego visit

March 13, 2018

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s visit to California to view border wall prototypes (all times local):

10:20 a.m.

Several dozen protesters are demonstrating in San Diego outside the nation’s busiest border crossing against President Donald Trump and his plans to build more towering barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Demonstrators chanting “No ban! No wall!” are being cheered on Tuesday morning at the San Ysidro (ee-see-droh) port of entry by honking cars and buses.

Numerous rallies by groups for and against Trump are planned during his first visit to California as president. Trump will inspect eight prototypes for his future wall project before meeting Marines later in the day.

Many people walking into San Diego from Tijuana, Mexico, say they agree with the protest. Others say they understand why people want to secure the border more.

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10 a.m.

San Diego’s Republican mayor says President Donald Trump won’t get a full picture of the city during his brief visit to inspect prototypes of his proposed border wall with Mexico.

Kevin Faulconer says that if Trump stayed more than a few hours, he would see that a strong economy and free trade aren’t a contradiction but a way of life.

The mayor says a popular cross-border airport terminal connecting San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, shows that “building bridges has worked wonders.” The terminal is located a few miles from the wall prototypes.

He also says that San Diego police work to protect everyone regardless of immigration status, an apparent dig at Trump’s approach to immigration enforcement.

Faulconer’s remarks appeared in a commentary published in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

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9:20 a.m.

President Donald Trump says California’s policy of refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities is unconstitutional, dangerous and “MUST STOP!”

Trump tweeted Tuesday that “thousands of dangerous & violent criminal aliens are released as a result of sanctuary policies” and are “set free to prey on innocent Americans.”

The president tweeted from aboard Air Force One as it flew him to California for his first visit to the state as president. Trump is scheduled to visit eight prototypes for the massive wall he wants built along the U.S. border with Mexico. Protests for and against the wall are planned.

The trip comes as the Trump administration battles California over its refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

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9 a.m.

The scene is quiet along the U.S.-Mexico border south of San Diego, where protests are expected when President Donald Trump arrives. Trump will examine prototypes of the wall he wants to build between the two countries.

On the Mexican side, federal and state police are standing by Tuesday morning but there is no crowd.

Tractor-trailer rigs have been parked along the U.S. side, blocking the view from Mexico.

Trump is currently en route to San Diego from Washington, D.C.

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2 a.m.

Rallies for and against Donald Trump’s “big beautiful border wall” with Mexico are expected to mark his first visit to California as president amid growing tensions between his administration and the state over immigration enforcement.

On Tuesday, Trump will visit eight towering prototypes of his planned wall before addressing Marines in San Diego and attending a fund-raiser in Beverly Hills.

Protests are also planned across the border in Tijuana, Mexico, when Trump visits the wall prototypes built along the international border to fulfill his signature campaign promise. Trump has insisted Mexico pay for the wall but Mexico has adamantly refused to consider the idea.

Trump’s visit comes just days after his Justice Department sued to block California laws designed to protect people living in the U.S. illegally.